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Steve Ruis's avatar

Oh, if he used "I kept my pants on" that phrase would be immortalized like "I didn't inhale" was.

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The Burnhams's avatar

Or Ghoul-ee--on--ee "tucking his shirt into his pants...." What a crew!

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I don't have any personal connection to Epstein, but Acosta was my boss at DOL before he resigned in the face of publicity over the Epstein case.

I subscribe to the Miami Herald, which with the Palm Beach Post broke the case. PERVERSION of JUSTICE: Investigating Epstein

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article238237729.html

MSM has not picked up on the dozens of civil lawsuits, AI A definitive total number of women who have filed civil lawsuits against Jeffrey Epstein, his estate, or related entities is hard to pinpoint, as new lawsuits and settlements continue to emerge. However, several sources provide insight into the scope of this litigation:

Over 200 survivors have received settlements: Attorneys for Epstein's victims have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for over 200 survivors of his abuse and trafficking through lawsuits against his estate, the federal government, and financial institutions.

Significant settlements with banks:

In a class-action lawsuit, JPMorgan Chase agreed to a $290 million settlement with Epstein's victims, with the judge noting the number of plaintiffs could be "well over 100 people."

Deutsche Bank settled a similar lawsuit with Epstein victims for $75 million.

Compensation fund for victims: A compensation fund for Epstein's victims has been opened, with over 100 women expected to file claims.

Recent lawsuits against the FBI: Eight women have filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging the FBI failed to act on reports of Epstein's crimes as early as 1996.

In summary: While the exact number of women who have sued Epstein is difficult to determine, it is clear that well over 200 survivors have come forward and received some form of compensation through civil lawsuits and settlements.

the following are in the ERpstein/Trump time line

Google: Katie Johnson/Jane Doe (1994) The case was dismissed the following month. A second version of the lawsuit was filed in New York in June by the same woman as "Jane Doe" claiming to have been raped and sexually assaulted by Trump & Epstein at four 1994 parties when she was 13.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3130729-DOE-V-TRUMP/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations

An investigation of Trump models might be productive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Model_Management

Miss universe

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/a-timeline-of-donald-trumps-creepiness-while-he-owned-miss-universe-191860/

2003 Palm Beach witnesses. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/crime/2019/07/26/jeffrey-epstein-case-open-secret-at-royal-palm-high/986590007/

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If I were doing an investigation, I'd start with the SDFL grand jury proceedings, question Acosta and any of the AUSAs involved. I recognize the names of defense counsel who were involved at the time Acosta gave Epstein the deal of the century. I question whether Trump was affiliated with any of them. Dersowitz, identified as a perp was once Epstein's lawyer and later defended Trump. IMHO a lot of his positions in Trump's impeachment defense were wacky. Ken Starr, who was involved has passed away.

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Trump has directed that tyhe NY grand jury records be opened. Just looked at the Motion to obtain grand jury records. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26002925/doj-filing-in-epstein.pdf

No mention of the 2006 SDFL grand jury.

A grand jury indicted Jeffrey Epstein in Palm Beach County, Florida, in 2006 on one charge of felony solicitation of prostitution. This followed a police investigation that began in 2005 after a complaint about a 14-year-old girl being molested at his mansion.

Key details

Limited Charge: Despite evidence from numerous alleged victims, some underage, the grand jury returned a single charge of felony solicitation of prostitution.

Controversy: Critics, including the then Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter, publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the grand jury's outcome and the state attorney's handling of the case, which led the police chief to refer the matter to the FBI.

Plea Deal: In 2008, Epstein entered a plea deal, pleading guilty to two state prostitution-related felonies and avoiding federal charges which could have resulted in a much longer sentence. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in county jail, including a work-release program where he could leave for work during the day.

Unsealed Documents: In 2024, after a years-long legal battle by The Palm Beach Post and a change in Florida law, nearly 200 pages of the 2006 grand jury evidence were made public. These documents revealed that prosecutors had presented evidence from only two victims to the grand jury and questioned the victims as if they were criminals.

Subsequent Arrest & Death: Epstein was arrested in New York in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges but died by suicide in jail before his trial.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I also heard Sarbanes Oxley/Dodd Frank Whistleblower cases.

"Ex-model who accused Trump of groping her in 1990s says Epstein mentioned Trump 'every time we spoke'" https://www.wbal.com/ex-model-who-accused-trump-of-groping-her-in-1990s-says-epstein-mentioned-trump-every-time-we-spoke

"In her interview with ABC News, Williams said that during her several-month relationship with Epstein, who she said she met in 1992, Trump was among three people who Epstein talked to her about the most, with one of the other two being Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who has since been sentenced to prison for 20 years for recruiting and grooming the underage girls who Epstein sexually abused.

"The third person, Williams said, was Leslie Wexner, the billionaire retail magnate who once employed Epstein to manage his fortune.

“The people he spoke about the most were his boss, or whatever that person was, Les Wexner, hard to understand that role. And then Ghislaine, again, a little ambiguous weird relationship. And then Donald Trump,” Williams told ABC News. “Those are the people he spoke about the most.”

Epstein was financial manager for Les Wexner companies like the Limited and Victoria's Secret to from 1987 to 2007.

From Wiki: Les "Wexner has been accused of failing to take action when complaints were raised against Epstein, after executives of L Brands reported in the mid-1990s that Epstein was abusing his power and connection to Wexner by posing as a recruiter for Victoria's Secret models.[21] Maria Farmer contacted local and federal authorities about an assault she allegedly endured by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell while working as an

artist-in-residence on Wexner's Ohio property in 1996. Within a year of Farmer's complaint, actress Alicia Arden filed a police report in Los Angeles detailing that Epstein had misrepresented himself as a recruiter for Victoria's Secret prior to another alleged assault.

"In early 2006, Epstein was charged in Florida with "multiple counts of molestation and unlawful sexual activity with a minor".[21] The New York Times reported that 18 months after the charges were filed, Wexner cut his ties with Epstein.[21]

"In August 2019, following Epstein's second incarceration and prior to his death, Wexner addressed the Wexner Foundation, releasing a written statement that his former financial advisor, Jeffrey Epstein, had "misappropriated vast sums of money" from him and from his family.[23] Wexner retained the services of Debevoise & Plimpton criminal defense attorney and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Mary Jo White.

"Wexner faced additional public scrutiny in late 2019 and early 2020, when a group of wrestlers who are survivors of the Ohio State University abuse scandal publicly called on state and federal officials to conduct further inquiry into Maria Farmer's allegations of sexual assault at the Wexner property. The wrestlers called for accountability for the Wexner family's alleged involvement in Epstein's abuse and raised the issue of the continuing influence of Abigail and Leslie Wexner serving as the "biggest and best-known benefactors" of the university.

"L Brands shareholders filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery of Delaware on January 14, 2021, stating that Wexner, among others, created an "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment", and was aware of abuses being committed by Jeffrey Epstein, which breached Wexner's fiduciary duty to the company and devalued the brand. The complaint also names Wexner's wife, current chair Sarah E. Nash, and former marketing officer Ed Razek, whose "widely known misconduct" was allegedly allowed at the company."

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Apparently Les Wexler also signed the2003 birthday book https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-07-18/wall-street-journal-alleges-les-wexner-signed-2003-lewd-birthday-card-book-given-to-jeffrey-epstein

"Among those who submitted letters were billionaire Leslie Wexner... Epstein was Wexner’s money manager at the time. The longtime leader of Victoria’s Secret wrote a short message that said: 'I wanted to get you what you want…so here it is'….” After the text was a line drawing of what appeared to be a woman’s breasts.

My experience is that the Wexler comanies, and maybe Trump inc were audited, Although they don't want to give this info, audit reports contain "contingent liabilities" that should list all potential litigation.

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Kathy Tankersley's avatar

Didn’t Pam Bondi, while she was in Florida, have the ability to investigate and prosecute Epstein but focused on other cases instead? And somewhere it was pointed out that TACO and Bondi were “acquainted “ back in her early days as prosecutor, and the social crowd hung out together (Epstein included) in Palm Beach. So I smell a big coverup, pretty obvious.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I don't think she had anything to do with it...until now.

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Prosecutors

Acosta

Barry Krischer: The Palm Beach County State Attorney who initially handled the case.

Lanna Belohlavek: The Assistant State Attorney who led the prosecution during the grand jury proceedings.

Defense Attorneys

Epstein assembled a team of well-known defense lawyers:

Jack Goldberger: A local defense attorney with a connection to Krischer.

Alan Dershowitz: A Harvard law professor known for his high-profile cases.

Gerald Lefcourt: A nationally renowned New York criminal defense attorney.

Kenneth Starr: A former independent counsel and U.S. Solicitor General.

Roy Black: A prominent criminal defense lawyer.

Jay Lefkowitz: A nationally known attorney.

Guy Lewis: Former U.S. attorney who was with Epstein during his guilty plea.

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Kathy Tankersley's avatar

I realize that Bondi was Florida AG from 2011 and wasn’t involved in the “plea deal of the century” for Epstein but articles from The Palm Beach Post and The Independent were proposing that she could have taken steps to open a case based on Epstein’s victims but probably left it alone because he had been tried the one time (in a travesty of justice for the victims in my opinion). But I understand the difficulty of retrying a serial child predator who associated with very wealthy individuals.

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William Farrar's avatar

Any idea why none of the victims have come forward. That would be the final nail in Epsteins and Trumps coffin

And no way Epstein committed suicide in a suicide cell, No way to hang himself

A forensic assessment of the ligature marks on Epstein's corpse

https://michaeldsellers.substack.com/p/epstein-a-forensic-assessment-ofmail

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

A lot of women have made allegations. Dozens of them.

Just guessing but if they've settled, probably a confidentiality clause.

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William Farrar's avatar

Didn't E Jean Carroll sign a confidentialiity clause, but decided "to hell with it"?

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Don't know.

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Eadie Sharron's avatar

Hi Daniel,

This is what I said to you I heard on Lawrence O'Donnell's program and you enumerated in your post now. I also heard since then that it was a non binding agreement arranged by Alan Dershowitz.

"Plea Deal: In 2008, Epstein entered a plea deal, pleading guilty to two state prostitution-related felonies and avoiding federal charges which could have resulted in a much longer sentence. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in county jail, including a work-release program where he could leave for work during the day."

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

He apparently spent time in county jail under the Federal sentence. That was the deal of the century.

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Eadie Sharron's avatar

YES! Never would have believed Dershowitz could have been the guy that arranged this weetheart deal.. He is probably guilty in this fiasco as well.

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Carol A. Heasley's avatar

Yes another deal of the century took place when I was a girl and ‘they’ wrote down false accusations about me I didn’t know existed used as cover for pedophiles and rapists - the same people mentioned over and over all these years later who died so there is no way go take them to court.; it was not until I was 55 years old did I discover that in Palm Desert (delusion green code) for those who run for president to come and read as Jill Biden did.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

2 + 2 = Spiro Agnew?

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Robot Bender's avatar

Your comment would make a good standalone Substack post. 🤔

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Carol A. Heasley's avatar

My reaction to the contents of Daniel’s liberal amount of information regarding the crimes committed by these creeps literally sickens me. The horror these girls/women faced and the hopelessness in the aftermath is all too familiar. I think I didn’t dig deeper at the time into newspaper reports to find out more information was due to an overwhelming fear of what I would read.

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alis's avatar

Only as sick as your secrets.....

Something I suspected from that birthday message struck me, and also I saw a piece on Meidas Touch Network. You can look-up the article they quoted from the Guardian: "Teen models, powerful men and private dinners: when Trump hosted Look of the Year"-Lucy Osborne 3/14/20

It's the models' stories complete with photos. I suspect that these men were competing to see who could get the girls' virginity. Sick. Psycho. Predators.

Why do they need more money? They are just keeping score. Why did Epstein need a new girl everyday? He was just keeping score. He was no enigma. It did not keep him young. It didn't end well for him when the secrets came to light. I hope it ends the same for TRump and all the people involved.

Senator Wyden is coming for them. Thanks to him, we CAN follow the money. See you in the streets.

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William Farrar's avatar

Competing with Jack London (Call of the Wild). Jack claimed to have sex with 1,000 women.

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Chris Brodin's avatar

I think Magic Johnson has him beat. He only escaped AIDS because his wealth bought him the best treatment at the time. Others died.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Wilt Chamberlain.

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Robert Herreshoff's avatar

Lest we forget Genghis Khan

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Mmerose's avatar

Just for fun: I had my husband's dna tested before he died of dementia in 2019. He had been "in country" with the Marines in Korea, and he had narrow eyes so the Japanese when he was on shore leave teased him about, he was really Japanese. He also had big cheekbones and a handsome (to me!) bent nose. He had an Okie family tradition of being Cherokee. The only hint of where all that came from was a trace of DNA from "Northern Macedonia." There ya go. Ol' Ghenghis K.

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Carol A. Heasley's avatar

Wyden is coming for the photos and stories? Are the stories incriminating as well?

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alis's avatar

He's on top of that and much of it involves money. Wyden is on the Finance Committee. Pretty sure there was fraud with real estate deals by TRump and Epstein. Epstein also supposedly helped people with their investments.

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John M. Canteberry's avatar

I just want to know when we march on the Heritage Foundation in DC?

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Good idea.

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Carol A. Heasley's avatar

Yes the Heritage Foundation needs to be exposed. So many citizens are unaware of their influence for some reason. I guess it’s the 60% of Americans who read at the 6th grade level as was reported in one of these threads. William Farrar?

It is difficult for me to believe that is true but I do given our educational systems failures nationally. Learning to read critically is the cornerstone of education and the lack thereof understanding what the Maggots are doing.

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Mary W Maxwell's avatar

"But did you keep your pants on?" could be the opening question for each person subpoena'd to the Congressional hearings on the Fly-list.

Ha ha, flylist.

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Tomonthebeach's avatar

"Bada bing, bada boom!" That was the impact of Thom's post on me today. I might spell my reaction a bit differently to "Badass bing, badass boob."

Why are MAGAs so shocked? Trump loved to be the center of attention in Playboy mag. He bragged about grabbing them by the p-ssie. He even asserted that he shared his buddy Jeff's lust for under-aged girls. Oh yeah, and let's not forget that those 34 felonies were all about covering up naughty sexual activities. Yet the majority evangelically voted for him knowing all that? What can the FBI files add that matters politically?

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William Farrar's avatar

I can't reconcile the antisemitic origins and nature of QAnon and MAGA, and events like the Tiki march in Charlottesville, with the claim by Trump that Mahmoud Khalil, others and Universities like Harvard are being arrested, deported, denied entrance or defunded because they are antisemitic.

Trump's son in law, daughter and his three grandchildren are Jewish.

And then there are the antisemitic NAZI's, KKK and others that make up MAGA, and the likes of Michael Cohen, Stephen Miller.David Weiss,

Then there are black NAZI', like Kanye and Mark Robinson.

Or Trump humping gays, lesbians and trans (Caitlin (Bruce) Jenner comes to mind.

And then there are women imploring Trump to grab them by their pussy.

There has to be a common denominator that binds these incongruities together.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Trump uses antisemitism, and so much else as pretext -- a reason given in justification of a course of action that is not the real reason. His allegations of "hoax" is a tell tale sign.

Once upon a time, in order to prove discrimination, pretty much needed to prove pretext, so I had dozens of cases where it was alleged. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_burden-shifting

The law in this area changed about 2010. Probably will change again under Trump policy.

The antisemitic allegations about Ivy League schools are ironic, given their history. They had quotas on the number of Jews, even when I was a kid.

No black person should support QAnon or MAGA, but a lot do. The head of the Proud Boys here in Baghdad By the Sea is a Black MAGA Cuban American QAnon.

They would exterminate guys like me. But I think Farakkhan et al would also.

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William Farrar's avatar

You are right about Farakkhan and so many others. Is there something in the human DNA that singles out Jews

For instance I am sure that the unspoken word behind the QAnon conspiracy theory is that Jewish bankers run the world, and their totem for this is George Soros, the only Jewish billionaire who has made his money in the stock market, thus overlooking the hundreds of goyim .like Jamie Dimon

It is an old trope that goes back probably to Ferdinand and Isabella, who were penniless and expelled the Jews and Muslims so they could confiscate their wealth.

Edward Longshanks, was also broke, fighting wars with Scotland and France, so he borrowed money from Jewish merchants, and unable to pay them back he exiled the Jews from England, and there they stayed until William of Orange.

The first modern bankers were the Knights Templar, and Francis I or France borrowed money from them and when he couldn't pay it back, he connived with the Pope, also a debtor, and had them persecuted, wealth confiscated and burned at the stake.

The next big international bankers were the Fugger Brothers of Italy (Christians) and they went bankrupt because they loaned Ferdinand and Isabella gold, but then the fuckers defaulted on the loan, and the Fuggers didn't have a King with an army at his disposal or indebtedness to act like a sheriff and dispossess the Spanish seat.

I leave with the following:

. "Who keeps the world, both old and new, in pain or pleasure? Who makes politics run glibber all? The shade of Bonapartes noble daring?

Jew Rothschild and his fellow Christian Baring. (p.42 the Money Lenders)

Money making and money lending is not a Jewish monopoly, but the propaganda swallowed by the right wing, would have one believe that it is.

And there is nothing wrong with mney lending either, for were there no money lending, none of us would own a home, have a car, a job, eat and live distantly or expound our wise philosophy on a computer or cell phone.

We hope for a better future,but the truth is, there is no hope for our species, it is the same old tired shit as it was when we lived in small family tribes.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I lay it on the Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicaea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Judaism

I took a course on early Christianity last year. They were Jews until about 310 CE.

I'm hoping for an epiphany. Some Christian sects have become aware of this history in the past 30-40 years.

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William Farrar's avatar

Having studied the Abrhamic religions in some depths, from a historical and rational point of view,not the eschatalogical mumble jumble that is at once horrifying and contradictory. I have a different take.

Agreed Christianity is a Jewish heresy, The leadership of Jeruslem was unable to fight off the Romans, and the Romans had plundered Jerusalem and their temple, carted all of the silver and gold off to Rome to build he Coliseum, and carried off people to provide slave labor to build the Coliseum and other works.

The learned among them, most certainly the Greek educated pharisees, contrived a plan, by which to destroy Rome from within, since it was a fruitless endeavor to attack it from without.

The might of Rome, and it's power, was it's militarism, it was it's military spirit that subdued the Sabines,the Latins (from which we get the name of the language), all the way to Britain and to the east (they never could conquer the Parthinians, or Persians)

So they concocted this pacifistic religiion and built it around models with which the people were familiar, like Dionysos (God of wine, who turned water into wine and whose name means literally son of god.), actually an amalgam, including a Jewish revolutionary executed by being nailed on a tree.

The Roman citizen, tired of having to pay exorbitant taxes, being dispossessed of property to feed the expansion and the needs of the legions, were attracted to the pacifism being hawked in the market place.

This pacifistic religion caught on, and became a threat to the martial air of the empire, and so the Emperors would round up who they could and thrown them in the Coliseum as criminals.

Nut the ideology infected the upper class, the equestrians and probably even the Senatorial class.

Rome didn't have a religion. Rome adopted the religions of all they conquered, they even had a god for the itch (Scabies) and a god for the penis (Priapus) and each god had it's own priesthood, and the priesthoods demanded recognition, sesterces, and temples, quite a drain on the resources and treasury. The answer to this madness was consolidation.

By the time that Constantine beat Maxentius on the Milivan Bridge, this new ideology had really penetrated the Roman empire.

This Emperor, Constantine,was more astute than the previous,and saw utility in monotheism, just as Akhenaton before him, which was also the inspiration for the Moses tale.

The legions had long stopped being comprised of Romans or even Italians (there was no Italy then, not until the 19th Century). And Constantine was not a Roman, he was an Illyrian possibly from what is now Albania, Serbia, Croatia. The legions themselves were composed of every region from Gaul to the Levant, North Africa, even Brittania and Germany.

But first he needed a cohesive doctrine, as he found that each and every one of these proselytes, had his own version.

So he gathered them together in a villa in far off Nicea in what is known now as Anatolia, set guards at the door, plied them with wine and young boys and not let them out till they came up with a cohesive doctrine.

It was surely mayhem inside the villa, with fights, and even deaths, but finally a consensus was formed.. the doctrine of the trinity and the Nicean Creed.

This idea of the Pharisees worked, but not right away, it took almost half a millenia for it to do it's job.

Now some will say that the Pharisees were against Jesus,but here we have some great marketing, How best to conceal your origin and nature, and your real objective,but to make yourself the enemy of that which you peddle.

Who would expect the real purpose of this new ideology and it's real authors, when they were made out to be the bad guys?

One final note this new ideology was too subversive of the empire so learned wealthy men, like Piso, intervened and were sure to insert stuff like Render unto Caesar into the manuscripts being assembled by Jerome and Austustine into the Latin Vulgate.

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William Farrar's avatar

Franklin is fruit from a poisonous tree. In 1984, on his way to a revival in Russia, he stopped to visit with the head of Pepsico, Donald Kendall. I don't know what went down but In 1989, Pepsi made a unique trade with the Soviet Union, exchanging its soft drink for a fleet of warships. This deal, part of a larger barter arrangement, saw Pepsi receive 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer. The Soviet Union, lacking hard currency, used Pepsi as a means to acquire consumer goods, while Pepsi, in turn, gained access to the Soviet market and later, valuable assets like warships according to a 2019 BBC article.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

The Graham family is divided over Trump. https://avlwatchdog.org/billy-grahams-legacy-threatened-by-family-feud/

IMHO Franklin Graham is the kind of true believer we can easily confront with the beatitudes.

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William Farrar's avatar

So his family is divided over Trump.So is mine, so are many others,

But how confronting Graham with beatitudes, affect him and his attitude and behavior.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Can catch him opposing Jesus.

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William Farrar's avatar

Christians, all of them, oppose Jesus, there was only one Christian who tried sincerely to follow in his footsteps and he failed. St Francis of Assizi.

For Christians Jesus is a totem, or a father to hide behind. Jesus is their excuse for of all of the polices and actions that they endorse or do to assuage their fears and fulfill their needs.

A skilled surgeon performs a life saving operation,and announces to the loved ones, that the operation was a success,and what do the ignorant and feckless loved ones do? "Praise Jesus" instead of thanking the surgeon.

A hurricane wipes out a family, and the family next door is not touched,and what does that family say about their fortune: "Thank you Jesus" as if the neighbor deserved to be punished.

People, what are the good for?

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gerald f dobbertin's avatar

Mr. Farrar, I walk two miles every day. From time to time I pass some poor person begging for money on the side walk so I try to remember to have some cash in my pocket before I set out on my walk each day. Occasionally I will pop into a nearby store and buy the beggar a sandwich or some fruit.

Some time ago I was told by a woman that she wanted to visit her dying mother in a hospital in town and needed money for bus fare and food. I gave her a twenty and she gushed all over me in thankful words for the geld. Whom did she thanked? GOD, right to my face she said she was thankful that god sent her the money to see her mother. I asked her: "Lady, how do you know it was not god who made your mother ill so she required a hospital?" She became suddenly numb as she looked at me with the strangest look I have ever seen on the face of a religious street person.

I admit what I did was a little unkind. But if it gets her to think critically about her god and religion, I just might be justified.

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William Farrar's avatar

Back in 1989, when I first arrived in Santa Cruz, Calfifornia, I drove one day to Watsonville, a little north of Salinas, made famous in the song Bobby McGee and me and he Grapes of Wrath.

As I was pulling out of the courthouse parking lot, I saw a guy holding a sign, I will work for money. I fell for it gave him a buck, but then I saw sign after sign of a beggars holding the same sign.

They really weren't looking for work, if so they would have been hanging around a Home Depot.

Takes me back to when I was 12. I used to ride a trolley, switch to a subway and ride down to center city in Phillie, then walk to the Boys Club of America, which had a swimming pool.

Then one day on the way home, I was joined by another, older kid, who taught me to panhandle. I would stand at the entrance of the turnstile and implore the people for $.35 so I could get home. Kindness prevailed, and I accumulated quite a bit, then I went to the nearest Horn and Hardarts', an automate that vended foot, and ate tomy hearts content, spaghetti, creamed spinach, chocolate pudding and custard.

You are probably giving money to people who use it to support their habit, as there are plenty of agencies around that at least provide food..

As regards the woman thanking god, that is the fruit of effective brainwashing, only good comes from god, nothing bad.

I ask a believer about war and murder and rape, their reply is Satan and free will, but when it comes to tornadoes, cyclones, earthquakes, lighting, fire, mudslides they become quiet as a church mouse.

If you think it is bad with Christians, it is magnitude worse with Muslims, they don't believe in free will, they believe in predestination.

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Carol A. Heasley's avatar

Why on earth did Pepsi need a war fleet?

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William Farrar's avatar

Probably to sell to a developing country, maybe even an ally like Australia, maybe Israel.

Who knows.

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Robot Bender's avatar

And what happened to Pepsi's fleet?

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William Farrar's avatar

Good question, Pepsi had one hell of a navy, I assume that they sold it.

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Shea Foote Hansen's avatar

Of course I have been known to be wrong from time to time, but I put this whole Epstein obsession in the category of a succession of contraversial issues Trump throws out when he wants to distract the media and the American people so he can, under cover of an essential black out, carry out his demonic moves for a fascist takeover. As evil as you think he is, sociopaths are not stupid. There is not, and there will never be, a smoking gun. But meanwhile, Trump understands that the press is like a pack of dogs hungry for headlines, so when he wants to distract them, he throws them some "red meat." Is this ultimately going to weaken his Maga base? Of course not. Where else are they going to find someone to tell them that their Whiteness merits them special status and reassure them that he will not allow them to be replaced by the BIPOC hord? In the end, they will forgive him just like they have done with all his other moral slime. What commentators should be doing is pulling back the curtain to look at what Trump is trying to distract us from? Trying to get voter data out of the states so he can even more effectively rig the 2026 election? People might enjoy viewing a relevant and really high quality music video we just posted on my Substack (Shea Foote @ Substack.com) or on YouTube at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoLyrQfPnnM&list=RDLoLyrQfPnnM&start_radio=1 You'll like it!

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gerald f dobbertin's avatar

Great musical-video, Ms. Hansen.

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Shea Foote Hansen's avatar

Ecstatic you enjoyed it. Please like and share. I'm hoping it will lighten everyone's weight. There are two more music videos of mine on my Youtube channel that you might like. "Hold On" and "Rise America Rise," and another, a definite feel good, will be coming out soon. Thanks so much for the feedback.

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Carol A. Heasley's avatar

Ditto great musical. Thanks for sharing.

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Shea Foote Hansen's avatar

Thanks for the moral support. It means a lot. There are two other music videos up on my YouTube channel Shea Foote Music--Hold On, and Rise America Rise. Another, in production, but not political--feel goodl

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Robert Herreshoff's avatar

America, where we're free to say whatever they want us to.

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Jan D. Weir's avatar

Trump’s direction to Bondi regarding release of the Epstein information is a subterfuge to appear to be transparent and is a clever attempt to hide the most critical documents implicating other people.

There is no need to ask the court to release the grand jury testimony. The DOJ has copies of all the documents, which is what the Trump critics want to see— and far more documents than were submitted to the grand jury and would not be subject to grand jury secrecy. The DOJ would have selected only documents relevant to the charge against Epstein and not documents that implicated other people to show the grand jury. And since the grand jury hearing relies mostly on testimony, the DOJ may not have filed many relevant documents at all. A US attorney who does criminal defence work could comment on this.

Look at the exact language Trump used. "Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,"

"Testimony". Note, it’s not all grand jury materials which would include documents, but only transcripts of the testimony.

"Pertinent". Not all testimony only “pertinent” testimony. And who gets to decide what is pertinent? Pam Bondi? Whoever does, it will be done in secret. And if there is a selection of documents that are not pertinent, they will never be disclosed..

“Subject to Court approval.” Trump has the possibility that the judge will not order the release of the grand jury testimony. The reasons for the secrecy of grand jury materials is set out here: https://kmlawfirm.com/2015/11/18/what-is-grand-jury-secrecy/

They all appear to be concerns about pretrial issues. Hopefully, there will be US criminal defence attorneys speaking up to clarify this. But the judge may give Trump an out and rule against disclosure.

In Canada, the equivalent procedure to ensure that there is some evidence before a serious criminal charge proceeds is called a preliminary inquiry. All documents and testimony are public. And there is an obligation on the Crown prosecutor to disclose all relevant documents in their possession to the accused, not just those they introduce at the preliminary inquiry. And there has not been any problem caused by this public disclosure in some 150 years.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

You might be right but I keep reminding that the Bondi Motion was only filed in NY, not in FL. Trump got a get out of jail free card when Acosta was US attorney in Souther District Of Florida in 2006.

But I think the real treasure troves could be in the civil litigation. The Palm Beach Post identified dozens of kids who were recruited by Epstein when they were in high school.

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Jan D. Weir's avatar

There may be a logistical problem in getting at any documents other than the statements of claim by the plaintiffs which are mere allegations and not evidence. If there were any documents produced during the deposition process, they would be in the lawyers’ confidential files. And if there were settlements, the settlement documents would likely contain a confidentiality clause so the plaintiffs could not release whatever evidence they had.

So I agree, you are probably right there’s likely a lot of evidence implicating members of the political ruling class there, but it’s unlikely they will ever surface. I would like to see an American criminal defence attorney weigh in on this.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I think that anything can be obtained, even sealed documents.

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Jan D. Weir's avatar

You are correct that anything can be obtained but my comment is that the logistics are difficult. Sealed documents are documents that have been filed publicly and made subject to a ceiling order. And there's a well established set of rules to get a document unsealed in the public registry.

However, it's unlikely than any of these documents were filed publicly. More likely, they were produced in individual lawsuits and are only in the lawyers' offices. There would have to be a proceeding in every lawsuit and grounds to set aside the confidentiality clause in the settlement agreements. Each pursuing would be hard fought by the defendants and right through to the highest levels of the courts.

If there were trials and documents filed, they would be public. It would take going to the courthouse for every lawsuit, requisitioning those files from storage and going through them to see if there were any relevant documents. That's why I think as a practical matter, none of this is going to happen. But there's likely a whole cache of incriminating documents in the DOJ's office that would not involve such logistical problems to produce.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

And held by clerks' offices.

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Jan D. Weir's avatar

Yes, there is a courthouse registry office where document relating to litigation are filed and kept by the clerks. After a certain time, they are sent to storage but are preserved.

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Jan Stone's avatar

This is a huge off-ramp opportunity for the GOP, MAGA, and the rest of the circus. And since his most rapid followers are pissed off, maybe the ‘danger’ of standing up to Trump is beginning to evaporate, making it an ideal off-ramp.

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Oldsalt65's avatar

If there’s a special place in Hell reserved for Franklin Graham it will be a very, very crowded place.

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Mmerose's avatar

All the usual suspects: "Rich men who basically run the world and have their pick of tender young girls". Most of these theories are also antisemitic and so posit that these “rulers” are Jewish, thus the Illuminati, Bilderberger, Soros, etc., theories, and Epstein fit right into that as he was also Jewish. This is sadly familiar to me. I think it's good for Hartmann to drag these twisted, hoary memes once more out from under the rock! But the most twisted, hoary and important is Bohemian Grove, (CA)

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Marybeth Roden's avatar

I often entertain myself with imagining DJT and his evil associates as they transition through the bardo after death. Not particularly noble of me to conjure up images of the hell worlds they have created by their misdeeds but it is proving to be satisfying. Thank you for your post and connecting the dots!

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Jackie's avatar

Looks, to me like one big huge mess Thom. O, the insanity.

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Scilla Yukich's avatar

You’d have to be naive to believe he kept his underwear on. This is Trump we’re talking about.

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